Maureen turns love of fashion into a business

Belmullet native Maureen McAndrew has always had a passion for fashion. After studying Fashion Styling and Display in Galway Technical Institute (GTI), Maureen explored various roles in retail, working in Galway and Castlebar. Her love for styling never waned, and after starting a family, she decided to launch her own business focused on sustainable fashion and wardrobe styling. 

Partnering with Fionnuala Niland, Maureen helps clients rediscover their wardrobes, promoting confidence and sustainability. Her business, active since February, has received enthusiastic feedback, and Maureen aims to continue growing while supporting sustainable fashion practices.

Angelina: Maureen, thank you for talking to me. Tell me a little bit about yourself.

Maureen: I grew up just outside Belmullet town in Drum. I did my Leaving Certificate when I was 17, so I was very young going to college. I did Fashion Styling and Display in GTI, which was brilliant. I always wanted to do with something in fashion. Then I went on to do Business for a year in GTI, and then GMIT were running their first year of a course in Retail and Customer Service management, which I went on to do. 

I worked with Arcadia within Anthony Ryan's in Galway for a year - they were the umbrella group for Wallis, Dorothy Perkins, and Topshop. I left Galway and I worked in Dorothy Perkins in Shaw's in Castlebar for nearly two and a half years.

Angelina: What drew you to fashion, Maureen?

Maureen: Growing up I always had a huge interest in fashion, clothes and style. Even when we were going to discos and stuff, I loved putting outfits together. I was always looking for something different. I remember before shorts were in, I had a tweed pair and I remember wearing them out before they were in fashion! 

As a child, I remember drawing dresses and things like that, so I always had an interest. It was always in the back of my head, it was always there. Then, when I was working in Ryan's, I loved dressing people. I loved people coming in and saying I need such an outfit for a certain occasion and helping them find something they loved. I loved meeting the people. And Shop Street in Galway was amazing. The buzz and everything, Galway was a brilliant place to live and work, especially in the summer.

Angelina: When did you decide to move back to Belmullet, Maureen?

Maureen: My husband John is from home too. He works on the Corrib Gas field. We were either going to move away or we were going to go home - the point that everyone comes to. I decided to come home. 

The drive to Castlebar, when I was working in Shaw's, was just too much for me. It was like six days a week and it was very tough. It was just too much, and I never had any weekends off. Then I got the job at the Western People doing sales. After that, I worked for Churchfield Home Services in Crossmolina. I worked for them for a few years in accounts, and then I had my children. 

I have two children now - Sean is three and Beth is one. And after they came along, I just wanted to do something part-time. I went back working five days a week after Sean was born, and I just found it very hard. So I moved into working in admin part-time for three days a week. Then I had my little girl, Beth, and she came four weeks early and she had ten days in special care in Castlebar. But she's fine, thank God. 

But I just think between everything that happened in the hospital and afterwards, it made me realise that I should try setting up my own business, incorporating fashion. So I did that!

Angelina: Tell us exactly what you do, Maureen.

Maureen: Basically, myself and Fionnuala Niland, who is also involved in the business, offer a styling service for your wardrobe. We go in and we declutter your wardrobe with you. We get you to try on the clothes, then we go through what you're going to keep and what's going to go to charity. 

Some clients may be interested in selling their items on the likes of Depop or those types of platforms. We don't sell clothes or handle that for them but the client can do that if they want to. So we put what we've left on our rail and that's when we begin our work. 

We start to put things together for clients and as they're trying on, we're bringing things to them, like, would you try this? Would you try that? They're like, 'Oh, I never would have thought of that. I never would have put that together.' Then we leave them, hopefully feeling confident, energised, and excited to wear what they already have. 

We help you style your wardrobe and help you wear your clothes from season to season, so you're not constantly doing those fast fashion hauls and you're throwing it out then. It's just all about sustainability and wearing what you already have really.

Angelina: Are you getting a buzz from doing something you are so passionate about?

Maureen: Yes, it's great. We've been asked to do other things as well. We were asked to do an event where are group was having a girls night in the house, so they asked us to come over and do a styling session and the feedback from that was great. 

We recently had a workshop with The Trendee Coach, Dee Ruddy. Somebody who bought a ticket for the workshop won the prize of getting their wardrobe made over and their hair and their makeup done on the night. We gave some tips and tricks on styling different things. Then we talked about her wardrobe and any gaps that we identified and advised her how to fill those. 

We do offer that as a service after seeing a client too - we do a follow-up email of key investment pieces that you might like to get. We're actually finding we don't really need to send the email at all. Maybe two or three links on WhatsApp, that's it. Because everybody has enough stuff already and they don't realise it.

Angelina: You're in business since February of this year - has there been lots of interest?

Maureen: There's a lot of interest, and we can tailor our packages to suit what people need too. I've had a girl come, and she's said, 'I'm okay with the decluttering, but I'd like you to help me. What would suit my shape? What would suit my size?' 

We would encourage people to get in touch because we will alter the packages. We don't just offer one thing, we will alter it to suit the customer. A lot of people feel like they're going to be embarrassed about what's going on in their wardrobe, which I really want to take the taboo away from because obviously it's all confidential anyway. If you don't want us to take pictures, we won't take them. Please don't think we are coming in and judging you. We don't want people to feel like that at all. 

Angelina: What keeps you driven, Maureen?

Maureen: It's when people go up to the mirror after trying on what they already have, and they're like, I never would have put this together. I didn't realise I had this. You just see them come alive, and their confidence comes back, and then also promoting the sustainability is a big element for me. I think we've all gotten wrapped up in this - I have to get something new. Overconsumption in general is just crazy. It’s in people’s faces all the time. We're offering a service that's going to help you in the long run, that's sustainable, and it's going to hopefully improve your confidence in dressing yourself. We've got messages afterwards telling us that people feel so confident.

Angelina: What advice would you give to someone who wants to start their own business - something they are passionate about?

Maureen: Just do it. Just try not to be concerned about what people think. That's a huge thing as well. At the beginning, I felt like my Instagram had to be perfect. When I was putting up the first couple of posts, I left it as a faceless account before I introduced myself, because I was asking myself, did I want to be coming on stories, talking for the sake of talking? It was a while before I introduced myself, and then when I did, it was so funny, because I got a huge amount of traction in the post and messages. 

So I suppose when you do show a part of yourself in your real life, that is what people want to see, but that comes with time. That's not something you're going to do straight away. If you want to do something, and you start now, in a year's time, you'll be way ahead of where you are now. People are very supportive. 

I started off doing little bits but then I just really went for it and I contacted Network Mayo and they're lovely. We went to one of their networking evenings, and we're going to join them for the year. I've also enrolled to do a course - the Empower programme with Údarás na Gaeltachta. Údarás in Belmullet have been so helpful. They put on a lot of courses. There's a lady there, Mary, who has been brilliant to us. It's a great service to have in the area. They have the space up there, the Wi-Fi, the offices, the whole lot. I would also say, reach out to people in your area, especially if you're a female.

Angelina: Have you goals and ambitions you'd like to achieve over the next few months and years, Maureen?

Maureen: Yes, definitely. I love vintage clothes as well. I love styling them. I love introducing them to my wardrobe and I just love going to charity shops and finding the gems. We've ran a vintage pop up in Belmullet in August and in Ballina just last week. We hand-picked stuff for it and I'm hoping to do a few more before the end of the year in the likes of Westport and Clifden. Also, a few more of the workshops as well, and nearly going down the line of corporate events - like team-building exercises in business, talking about sustainable fashion, and just getting people to think about their spending habits towards fashion and educating them a little bit more about the different options, like renting dresses, that kind of thing.